Soul Society Chronicles: The Great Hollow Hunt
by Kioyuki Oniga
Summary: After Ichigo and the others return from Hueco Mundo, life in Soul Society returns to normal, or as close to normal as it can get, hints of Renji x Rukia
1. On Your Marks

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Soul Society Chronicles

After Ichigo and his friends return from Hueco Mundo, life in Soul Society returns to normal, or as normal as it can get.

Soul Society Chronicles: The great hollow hunt Chapter one: On your marks 

The summer sun blazed down on Karakura Town, its buildings and rooftops shimmering as if they were in a heat wave. If the town's spirit seeing inhabitants had cast their gazes up onto the rooftop of the old abandoned elementary school, they'd have seen something very out of place for a small town on a blazing hot summer afternoon.

The rooftop was crowded with shinigami, from every division in the Gotei 13, all of them had gathered there for one reason. To take part in the great hollow hunt. Since two division captains had left Soul Society with Aizens betrayal, there was a power vacuum within the 13 divisions, a quarter of their captain seats were empty, and nature abhors a vacuum. The lieutenants of the 3rd and 9th divisions, Izuru Kira and Shuhei Hisagi, had stepped up to fill Gin Ichimaru's and Kaname Tosens empty seats but the 5th divisions lieutenant, Momo Hinamori, had refused the post. She was still hurt over Aizens betrayal and General Yamamoto had decided to solve the problem to stop the endless arguments within the Gotei 13.

The hunt had been arranged, each division had sent a representative and the rules were simple, whoever killed the most hollows within three hours would be awarded the captainship of the 5th division. Despite the seemingly simple rules the contest was far from easy, a captains post was something many Soul Reapers would, and some had, killed to possess.

"Remember, the winner is the one who to kills the most hollows, not the most powerful hollow, if you have a choice of killing one high level target, or five minor ones, go for quantity over quality" Byakuya said to his companies representative

"Yeah yeah, I know, you've told me about fifty times already" Renji replied, leaning against the side of the building and adjusting his shades

"You'd better win, or people'll think we're going soft" Kenpatchi Zaraki said to the competitor of 11th division

"Don't worry, I won't let us down" Ikkaku replied to his captain, looking down at the thin bracelet on his left wrist, the bracelets would recorded how many hollows the wearer had slain, and bring them back to Soul Society when the hunt had ended.

"You'd better not bowling ball head, or Kenny won't like it" Yachiru said from her usual perch on Zarakis left shoulder

"I know you can do it Rukia, you've handled far worse lately" Jushiro Ukitake said

"I know, after nearly being executed, how bad can a few hollows be?" Rukia replied, her hand resting on the zanpaku-to's scabbard

"You had better not fail, my work is perfection, anything less than total victory would be an irredeemable insult to it" Mayuri Kurostuchi snapped at 12th divisions hunter

"Don't worry captain Kurostuchi, I will win, or die trying" Kio replied

"Well that's a start I suppose" Mayuri replied to his division's third seat.

"Are you sure I'm ready for this? I mean I don't think any of the other hunters are less than fourth seat, I'm only seventh" Hanataro Yamada asked his captain

"You will be fine, I have complete faith in you, you are ready for this, your actions during the Ryoka incursion have proved that" Retsu Unohara reassured him

"Don't worry, you might just be out of the academy, but if you're anything like your sister, this'll be a cakewalk for ya" Toshiro said to his divisions hunter, who merely nodded his head and looked down at Karakura town, wondering if he could sneak away to see his sister at sometime during the hunt.

"Give it your all, you'd make a better captain than I would" Momo Hinamori told the hunter from the 5th Division

"Victory is everything, failure is not an option" Izuru said to 3rd divisions competitor

"Relax, we've got this in the bag, don't worry boss, I won't make you look bad on your first day" she replied, shuddering at the sudden tremendous increase in spiritual pressure signalled the arrival of the final captain, General Yamamoto.

"The hunt is about to begin, after three hours the bracelets on your wrist will teleport you all back to Soul Society, good luck and good hunting" the General said, flames from his zanpaku-to rising behind him, creating an impressive display as he lifted the lid off the massive jar of hollow bait

"Trust old man Yama to make this all seem so dramatic" Shunsui Kyoraku said to Jushiro, who nodded in agreement, agreeing with his old friend for once.

As soon as the hollow bait flew into the air the thirteen hunters took off, all charging forwards, eager to start the hunt.

In chapter 2 – Things seem to be going fine until the contestants start to drop as fast as the hollows

To be continued, all reviews are happily accepted and greatley appreciated


	2. Thinning The Ranks

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach although I do own the OCs in this and all my other fics

Chapter two: Thinning the ranks

As Renji leapt form rooftop to rooftop he spotted his first target. A couple of small children were walking through the door of a nearby store, a small rat like hollow was scurrying down the front of the store eager to get at them.

"Zabimaru" he cried as he leapt from the rooftop, unsheathing his zanpaku-to, eager to get at the hollow. The hollow looked up and threw itself to one side, avoiding the swords attack by a hairs breadth. As Renji drew back his blade for a second swing a large icicle pierced the hollows mask and it fell to the ground as it broke apart and it's cleaned soul left to journey to Soul Society, Renji groaned as he realised what had happened.

"Looks like first blood's mine" Rukia said as she stepped out from behind the mailbox she'd been hiding behind

"No fair, that was my kill, you stole it" Renji complained

"Alls fair in love and war Renji, remember that" Rukia said before spying another hollow and setting off in hot pursuit.

"You got that right," Renji said to himself, remaining where he was. Ikkaku spotted Renji from up on the rooftop where he was standing

"Hey Abrai, get your head in the game or you'll come dead last, think about your girlfriend later" he called down

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFREIND!!" Renji yelled, his face turning the same red shade as his hair, but Ikkaku had already moved on, eager to resume the hunt.

"Here hollows, come on hollows" Hanataro called out feebly, walking down a busy main street, his zanpaku-to held out in front of him. He continued down the street, glancing up overhead to see a wasp like hollow fleeing from Ikkaku, the hollow glanced down at Hanataro, then returned to its flight, apparently not interested in the seventh seat of 4th company.

"Oh who am I kidding, I can't find any hollows and even if I did, none would be bothered to fight me. He said to himself, sitting down on a nearby bench. Unknown to him, a cobra like hollow slithered out of a nearby storm drain and slithered towards him, it appeared behind him and raised its head, preparing to strike the unsuspecting soul reaper. As its head descended Hanataro caught a glimpse of its reflection in a nearby puddle and rolled out of its way as its body collided with the bench, smashing it to pieces in the process.

Panicking he lifted his zanpaku-to and slashed the hollow right across its face. Unfortunately Hisogomaru's ability kicked in and as soon as it had made the wound, it began to seal it back up. The hollow wheeled back around to face him, the wound now completely healed, and Hanataro thought the snake was laughing at him as it lunged forwards again, eager to finish the weakling off and move onto better, more worth prey.

As the hollows fanged head descended once again an energy blast struck it, halting its attack. The hollow looked confused but quickly got its bearings and resumed its attack only for a second energy blast to slam into it, which Hanataro was able to get a better look at. The blast was a _cero_ blast and unlike normal _cero_ blasts it was blue and in the shape of a wolfs head. With the second blast the hollow reeled back, unsure of what exactly was happening or who was attacking it, Hanataro saw a shadowy figure dart forwards and grab the hollow by its head with its left hand. The figure fired _cero_ blast after _cero_ blast until he dropped the hollow, which sank to the ground, its head almost completely destroyed by the _cero_ bombardment.

"You should really keep your guard up, especially with such an…unusual zanpaku-to," the figure said, trying his best not to insult Hanataros weapon.

"Who are you?" Hanataro asked him; from the insignia on his uniform he could see he was from 12th company, and its third seat.

"I'm Kio Yukian, 12th divisions third seat and our representative in this little hunt" he replied, he had bright blue hair and pale purple eyes. The left side of his face was covered in shadow, seemingly cast into perpetual darkness

"And my captains greatest experiment" he added, turning so Hanataro could see the other side of his face. He nearly screamed when he saw it; the other side of his face was a blue and purple hollow mask.

"Shocking isn't it?" he said, raising his left arm, which was a hollows, before turning and walking away.

"If I were you I'd watch my back more carefully from now on, someone like me might not be around to save you the next time you let your guard down" he said as he departed. Suddenly Kio fell to the ground, the front of his shinigami uniform splattered with blood, which had come from the massive gaping wound that had appeared in his neck.

Hanataro quickly drew Hisogamaru and dragged it over the wound, which quickly closed up.

"What were you saying about letting your guard down?" he said as he helped Kio up

"I see your point, that would explain it" he said

"Explain what?" Hanataro asked

"I found the hunters from 9th and 2nd company a few minutes ago, both of them were dead and from the looks of it, both had been taken by surprise, it if weren't for you I might have joined them" he replied

"Yeah, I guess my zanpaku-to's not as useless as it looks" Hanataro said, looking down at the blade

"I'll make you a deal, I fight the hollows, you watch my back and heal me if whoever attacked me tries the same thing again. If I win the hunt I'll make you my lieutenant captain and see that you get the recognition you deserve" Kio said, extending his clawed hollow hand

"Do we have a deal?" he asked, Hanataro shook his hand

"We do" he said and at that the two Soul Reapers sheathed their blades and pressed onwards, back in the game.

Up on the rooftops Ikkaku finally had another hollow in his sights, a immense black hollow that looked similar to a stealth bomber, it was hovering over the ghost of a teenage boy loitering around at a bus stop, preparing to devour the spirit.

Drawing Hozokimaru he swung into action. He leapt down from the building, bringing his zanpaku-to down, intending to hack the hollow clean in half. Unfortunately another person had the exact same idea.

Ikkaku felt another spirit pressure, nearly equal to his own suddenly appear behind him, he felt something slam into his back, sending him crashing down to the ground. Overhead he saw the hollow fall to the ground, hacked in two right down the middle. His attacker paused to do a quick spirit burial on the boys ghost before turning around to look at 11th divisions 3rd seat.

"You snooze you lose cueball" she replied, resting her zanpaku-to on her left shoulder. It looked like a normal katana but with a spiral shaped blade, like a corkscrew.

"Who are you and how'd you manage to knock me down so easily?" he asked her, she smiled

"Me? I'm Alita Hanraoa, the new 4th seat of 3rd division, and I beat you so easily because of my zanpaku-to, Kamisaku (divine corkscrew), it can disrupt your spiritual pressure and your sense of balance, think of it as the ultimate combo of vertigo and whiplash" she said, looking very pleased with herself

"And you'd better remember my name, if you're nice to me after I win this thing I just might give you a good post in my new division, maybe my housecleaner, or perhaps you can help 4th division clean the streets, or maybe…" whatever else she was about to say was lost as her zanpaku-to slipped from her hand and fell to the ground with a clatter. She sank to her knees and looked down, dozens of massive gaping wounds had suddenly appeared across her chest and arms, she clasped her hands over the biggest one on her chest, trying in vain to stem the flow of blood. It failed and she looked at Ikkaku, her gaze a mix of shock, pain and fear as she fell to the ground.

Ikkaku leapt to her feet, intending to run to her aid but stopped almost immediately afterwards, realising there was nothing he could do, she was dead. He immediately realised he could be next and held Hozokimaru out in front of him, circling round and round quickly, hoping to stop whoever had killed her before they could do the same to him. He sensed another two groups of spiritual pressure and spun around seeing Renji and Rukia coming towards him from across the street.

"What happened?" Rukia asked as soon as she reached Ikkaku, kneeling down to get a better look at Alitas injuries.

"Did you see anything Ikkaku-senpai?" Renji asked him, scanning around to see if there was any other Soul Reapers nearby, or Ichigo.

"Nothing, she was fine one minute, the next she was like that, I've got no idea what could inflict that many wounds in the blink of an eye" he said

"We should tell someone, find one of the Captains, they'll know what to do" Rukia said, standing and getting ready to leave to find 13th divisions commander.

"No, they've all gone back to Soul Society, we're on our own now" Ikkaku said, returning his zanpaku-to to it's unreleased form

"So what should we do, Ikkaku-senpai?" Renji asked him, he shrugged

"Beats me, that kinda question's why I never became captain" he said

"I thought you didn't become captain because every time you tried Captain Zaraki kicked your…" Renji didn't get a chance to continue as Ikkaku whacked him over the head with the blunt edge of his zanpaku-to

"I don't think your girlfriend needs to know about that" he said

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFREIND!!" Renji yelled before slumping to the ground, out cold from the whack to the head.

"Getting back to the question, what should we do? You're the senior officer here now Renji's out cold" Rukia asked Ikkaku

"I guess we should stick together, that way we'll be prepared if whoever's doing this tries to do the same thing to us" he replied

"What about her?" Rukia asked, motioning to Alitas motionless body

"There isn't anything we can do for her now, we'll tell the captains and someone'll come and get her after the hunts over" he replied

"And what about if we see any hollows?" she asked him, he grinned

"Then it's first come, first served, now get your boyfriend and let's get going" he replied, unlike Renji Rukia didn't reply but only smiled slightly, picked Renji up and hoisted him onto her shoulders, and the three of them took off again.

After they'd cleared the scene two figures stepped forward from the shadows, one of them reached down and snatched up Alita's zanpaku-to

"Here, get this back to Las Noches, Aizen'll want Szayel to take a look at this as soon as possible" it said to the other figure, who turned around

"I don't see what the Arrancar can possibly gain from this little venture of yours Tenalava, or why it was necessary for me to kill all those Soul Reapers. Such trash is not a good use of my skills" Ulquiorra said in his normal emotionless tone

"Relax, Aizen made me the 5th Espada for a reason" Tenalava replied, the sun reflecting off his dark orange eyes, and enhancing their shrewd, cruel stare. Like Ulquiorra his hollow mask was on his head and it covered the back of it like a helmet, and like Ulqiorras it resembled that of a Vasto Lorde

"As I recall he made another of us the 5th as well" Ulquiorra said

"Hey, he only did that cause I'm never around, he needed to give someone the post or ol'Grimmjow would've tried to grab it for himself, not that Notoria's not a bad choice for the post" Tenalava replied, handing the zanpaku-to to the 4th Espada

"Regardless, I'll be taking this back to Las Noches, when you're done here, please feel free to follow" he replied, opening a portal and stepping through it, leaving the human world for Hueco Mondo

"I aint done here yet, not by a long shot" Tenalava replied, continuing on in his plan

Meanwhile in the park…

"Come on Tatsuki, this game's pretty simple once you get hang of it" Orihime called to her friend

"How do you play basket bowling again?" she asked her

"It's simple, you bounce the ball off the ground and try to knock down all the pins" Orihime said, bouncing her basketball and getting a strike, knocking down all the pins she'd set up earlier.

As the two girls played the latest of Orihimes long line of bizarre games, a hollow that looked like a giant black ball was rolling its way across a nearby rooftop, grinning wickedly as it sensed the two high levels of spirit energy nearby. It sped up into a rolling charge, reached the end of the rooftop and propelled itself off the edge into the air, where it dropped like a evil wrecking ball, aiming right at the two girls.

As it neared them 10th divisions hunter saw what was happening, and who the hollow was about to attack, springing into action he ran forwards form where he'd been hiding behind a set of swings, drew his zanpaku-to and slashed at the hollow. Orihimes attention was quickly diverted from the game of basket bowling when the two pieces of the hollow dropped the ground on either side of her. The Soul Reaper who'd saved her then stepped forward to introduce himself. When Orihime saw his face she could barely form a response

"S…Sora?"

In chapter 3 – Orihime's brother is back and the Espada continue with their plan for the remaining hunters

To be continued, reviews and feedback are encoraged and appreciated


	3. The Return Of Acidwire

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, no really, I don't. However I do own all the OCs in this fic so it's not all bad news

And thanks everyone who's reviewed so far, your reviews mean a lot

Chapter 3: The return of Acidwire

"Hey Orihime, long time no see" Sora said to his younger sister. Orihime couldn't think of anything to say as her six fairies appeared around her

"Hey who's this guy?" Baigon asked Tsubaki, who whacked his fellow fairy upside the head.

"Don't'cha know anything? It's her brother ya moron, the one who gave her the hairpins that created us" he replied, watching intently as Orihime looked at her long lost brother, completely at a loss for words

"You haven't looked this surprised since you found those fireworks stashed in my room when you were eight" Sora replied, the basketball dropped from Orihimes hands and struck the floor, rolling away, Tatsuki bent down to pick it up, finally realising who Sora was.

"So you're Sora, I'm Tatsuki, Orihimes friend, it's nice to meet you, your sister talks about you a lot" she said, holding out a hand, Sora shook it, looking slightly surprised

"You can see me?" he asked her

"Yea, I see a lot of ghosts these days" she replied, sounding as if she was talking to someone in the street, not someone who'd been dead for years

"You…you joined the Soul Reapers?" Orihime asked, finally breaking her shocked silence. She'd known her brother had gotten to Soul Society after Ichigo had freed him from being a hollow but she'd never suspected he'd follow in Rukias footsteps and join the Soul Reaper Academy

"Yea, Rukongai's not exactly a nice place to live out your afterlife, after I got there Toshiro Hitsugaya tracked me down and filled me in on what you and your pals had been getting up to, I figured the least I could do was join up to protect my little sister after all the trouble I caused as a hollow. I just completed the Academy and got into 10th division a little while ago before joining in this hunt" he told her

"Hunt?" she replied

"Oh right you don't know, each Division's sent someone to take part, whoever kills the most hollow in three hours gets to become captain of 5th division" he said

"Oh, do me a favour and don't tell your friend Ichigo, it'd kinda wreck the hunt if he went around killing all the hollows before anyone else hot a chance" Sora added, leaning on the hilt of his zanpaku-to

"But what if you don't get them all? What if a Menos shows up like last time" Orihime asked, horrified that her brother would let innocent people be put at risk just to get a promotion

"Relax sis, six captains are standing by, if it gets out of control then they'll step in, no-one'll get hurt" he said, trying to set her at ease

"I very much doubt that" a sarcastic voice said from behind them, Tenalava was standing in the shadows of a nearby slide, observing the group. He tapped on the metal slide five times and a small hollow appeared.

"You wanna join the Arrancar Razorwhirl? Prove you're good enough, take out that Soul Reaper. You give me his zanpaku-to and I'll put in a good word, make sure you're doing more with your afterlife than scavenging stray pluses from the Menos" he said

"Sure boss, whirl whirl whirl, you get the sword, I get human form" the little hollow said, which looked like a little tornado with a hollow mask spinning inside it. It launched itself forwards, at the same time the light breeze blowing through the park seemed to increase, and the hollow started to get bigger. By the time it was bearing down on the group it had tripled in size, easily larger than the tallest Soul Reaper and it now sported an array of deadly looking blades within itself. When they finally realised they were under attack Orihime sprang into action, calling upon three of her fairies to create the Santen Kesshun, sheltering herself and Tatsuki behind it. Sora also leapt into action, drawing his zanpaku-to and calling out its name

"Katorzari (Acidwire), corrode" he yelled, the sword immediately transformed into its shikai. The sword was now very different, it kept its hilt and crossguard, albeit with the image of the mask Sora had worn when he was Acidwire plastered across it, and instead of a blade it had a long bladed whip running from the hilt with a diamond shaped point at the tip. He swung the bladed whip around his head, building up its force before lashing out, burying it within the tornado, it let out a unearthly scream as the blades within it dropped to the ground, melted through as if they'd been doused with acid. Sora drew Katorzari back out and brought it down into the tornado like hollow again, this time the bladed tip buried itself in the centre of the hollow mask, Sora pulled on it and the mask flew out of the tornado and landed in his outstretched hand, a massive hole melted through it centre. The tornado let out a final scream before vanishing from sight, the mask in Soras hand shattered into a thousand pieces before it too faded from sight.

"Damm it, I need to find better henchmen" Tenalava muttered under his breath, still loitering around the edge of the battleground, he noticed another hollow, one that looked like a giant dragonfly flying over the park, and a thin figure leaping from rooftop to rooftop after it.

"Or henchwomen" he said, smiling wickedly, setting off in pursuit

As Sora sheathed Katorzari he heard the sound of clapping behind him and looked around to see Kisuke Urahara standing there

"Very impressive, couldn't have done better myself" he said cheerily

"Well you could've given me a hand" Sora grumbled

"Didn't want to cramp your style and you looked like you had it under control" Urahara replied

"What brings you here?" Orihime asked, he shrugged

"Business is slow at the shop and you all seem to be having so much fun fighting these hollows, so I thought I'd come along and offer some moral support" he said

"Like you'd offer anything else" Sora muttered, having heard all about the former 12th company Captain from his own Captain

"Look, more hunters" he added as Kio and Hanataro rushed into the park

"Hey Sora" Kio said

"Yo Kio, haven't seen you since we graduated from the Academy" Sora said

"Yea, I figured you'd be one of the ones who'd survive this long" Kio replied

"What do you mean?" Sora asked and Kio and Hanataro filled him in on what had happened to Alita and the other hunters

"Seems like some else is doing some hunting" Urahara said

"Yea, like we hadn't figured out as much" Kio said, frowning. Urahara smiled as he saw the 12th company insignia on Kios uniform

"Ah, you must be one of Mayuri's new lab rats" he said

"Captain Kurostuchi saved my life, I owe him a lot" Kio snapped

"Of course you do, I guess my poor research institute's really gone downhill if it's churning out things like you" he said

"You should be careful what you say, mister Urahara, someone might take offence at it" Kio said, slowly drawing his zanpaku-to, in response Urahara slowly moved his hand to rest on the hilt of Benihime, in case he needed to teach Mayuri's lab rat some manners

"Hey tough guys, maybe you can cool it a sec, we need to figure out what we should do about the dead hunters" Sora said, stepping in between Urahara and Kio

"It's your problem not mine, now if you'll excuse I need tog et back to my shop" Urahara said coldly, turning around and walking away with his sandals clicking against the concrete path

"Great, we could've really used his help" Sora said to Kio

"He started it" Kio protested

"Hey, hollow face, I don't care who started it, I'm gonna finish it if you don't give it a rest" Tatsuki said, cracking her knuckles threateningly

"So what should we do?" Sora asked the others

"Beats me, we should probably stick together, focus on the hunt, we can tell the captains afterwards, they'll get to the bottom of this" Kio replied

'If we last that long' he thought, trying to hide the look of uncertainty on his face

Meanwhile the dragonfly hollow dodged and dived, trying desperately to shake off its pursuer. As it reached the far side of the park it ground to a halt as its pursuer landed right in front of it

"Now what's a hollow like you doing in a place like this?" Yoruichi said, smiling like a Cheshire cat. The hollow turned around, trying to flee but Yoruichi was too quick for it, in a heartbeat she was behind the hollow, placed her hand on its forehead, and fired a kido blast at it. As the hollow dropped, a massive hole in the middle of its head, she heard clapping from behind her

"Bravo, bravo, I'm impressed" a voice said, she turned around to see Tenalava

"And who might you be?" she asked cautiously

"I'm Tenalava Conquistes, the 5th Espada and the Arrancars representative though the human world, Soul Society and Hueco Mundo" he said, taking a bow

"You know, telling me that wasn't a very bright thing to do" she said, using her flash step to disappear and re-appear behind him. As she swung her fist at him he grabbed it and swung her over his shoulder, she landed roughly and skidded to a halt just near the edge of the roof

"How…how did you do that?"

"Hey, you don't tangle with Vasto Lordes and survive Grimmjow on a bad day without learning a thing or two" he replied, smiling smugly

"And your takedown of my friend, Buzzwing H, was impressive, you're hired as my new henchman, or henchwoman in your case" he added

"Yea, like I'm really gonna do that" she said, reaching for her Zanpaku-to

"You will, or at least you won't know otherwise" he said, drawing his own. The sword immediately transformed, resembling a large castonet the same colours as a hollow mask. Tenalavas Arrancar uniform changed as well, turning blood red and black in colour and looking more like it belonged on someone in a mariachi band, albeit slightly ragged and frayed. He clicked the castonet and suddenly Yoruichi felt a chunk of her memory just disappear, she couldn't remember anything that had happened up until she'd met Tenalava.

"What did you do?" she asked, unable to mask the fear in her voice, she'd tangled with Arrancar before but none of them had bee able to do what Tenalava had done.

"It's my Zanpaku-to Miss Yoruichi, Cascavela Ingestias (consuming rattle), with every click it eats away a little bit more of your memory, soon you'll lose it all and become an unwitting puppet, the Arrancars latest weapon against the Soul Reapers" he replied, holding up Cascavela Ingestias

"Like hell I will" she snarled, leaping at him. He pivoted out of her way with ease, her attack lacking her usual skill, being born out of desperation and fear. He clicked the castonet rapidly and Yoruichi stopped her attack, standing still. As he kept clicking it her eyes seemed to cloud over and she remained perfectly still, as if she wasn't sure what she was doing there or what she was going to do.

"What…what am I doing here? Who are you?" she asked cluelessly, Tenalava smiled, it had worked perfectly

"You're my sister, I need your help" he said

"To do what?" she asked, Tenalava looked down at the Soul Reapers and humans in the park below

"To destroy them, then there will be no-one who can stop us" he said, the sun gleaming off the bright rooftop, reflecting the Espadas empty eyes, and their cruel, ruthless stare

In chapter 4 – With Yoruichi on his side, Tenalava sets out to crush the hunters and anyone else who gets in his way, hollows aren't the only thing being hunted in this hunt

To be continued, like always, reviews and feedback on the fic are encouraged and happily accepted


	4. Cat On A Leash

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Chapter four: Cat on a leash

Tenalava leapt from rooftop to rooftop, with his new ally in tow

"Brother? What are we here to do again" Yoruichi asked him

"I've already told you, the Soul Reapers down there killed our parents, and now we're going to get our revenge on them"

"Oh, right" she replied cluelessly. Tenalava smiled, this had gone even better than he'd expected, after this, Aizen might even promote him to 1st Espada, then he could get rid of Grimmjow for good.

"Heh, Grimmjow, when I get back, you're history" he muttered under his breath. Almost as soon as he said his name a portal opened in front of him and the 6th Espada stepped through it.

"Oh, nice to see you again Grimmjow" he said

"Whatever, Aizen wants to know what's taking you so long, you were supposed to back an hour ago"

"I'm running a little behind schedule but I should be done here soon"

"Brother, who is he?" Yoruichi asked, looking at Grimmjow, she couldn't place it, but she was sure she'd met him before, and it hadn't been a friendly meeting. Tenalava smiled, now was a prefect time to test out how well Yoruichi's brainwashing had worked

"He's an enemy sister, he helped the Soul Reapers kill our parents" the 5th Espada replied, unable to hide a smirk

"Sister? Killed your parents? What the hell are you talking about? Has all that time hanging around the Vasto Lordes finally fried your brain?" Grimmjow asked, having no idea what Tenalava was up to

"Attack him sister, he needs to be punished for what he's done" Tenalava said to Yoruichi

"O.K, whatever you're trying to pull I'm not in the mood to…" Grimmjow was unable to continue as Yoruichi had used her flash steps to get behind him, then put her hand over Grimmjows shoulder and blasted him full in the face with a well-placed kido blast.

'Thank the Menos she lost her memories but kept her combat skills' Tenalava thought as Yoruichi held Grimmjow over the edge of the rooftop by the scruff of his uniform

"When I get back to Las Noches and tell Aizen and the others what you've done, you're history" he snarled at Tenalava

"You won't be going back to Las Noches, when I'm done here I'll take Yoruichi back with me and turn her into an Arrancar, she'll be more than a capable replacement for you" Tenalava said, walking over next to him and whispering in his ear so Yoruichi couldn't hear him

"You won't get away with this" he hissed

"Grimmjow, I already have" Tenalava whispered, burning away his 6th Espada tattoo with a small _cero_ blast before firing another two blasts, burning away his other arm and his right leg and Yoruichi tossed him over the side of the building where he landed with a sickening crunch on the sidewalk below

"Farewell Grimmjow, you'll be sorely missed, I'm just not sure who by" he said, giving the Espada a mock salute before turning around and looking at Yoruichi

"Where to next brother?"

"We need to get someone else, he'll help us, but first we need to do a little shopping we're going to the Urahara shop" he told her before leaping away to the next rooftop with Yoruichi following behind the departing Espada

Below Rukia, Renji and Ikkaku raced down the streets, scanning for other Soul Reapers and keeping an eye out for any hollows

"You worried Rukia?" Renji asked

"No, I just want to get this hunt over with, I don't even know why Captain Ukitake chose me to take part"

"I think I do, Captain Kuchiki doesn't want you sent on any dangerous missions so that's why you haven't been given a seat yet, but Captain Ukitake wants you to achieve your full potential, so he's nominated you for the hunt" he told her

"I bet my brother wasn't too happy about that"

"He sure wasn't, I've never seen him so angry, aside from that time someone spilt red sake on his kenseiken" Renji told her, Rukia burst out laughing, then immediately suppressed it as if she'd just done something incredibly rude and offensive. Ikkaku looked back at the two and rolled his eyes, then he let out a yell and went flying, having tripped over a large mound on the street

"Ikkaku-senpai!" Renji cried out, running to Ikkakus side and helping him up, Rukia meanwhile edged over to the bloodstained mound and gently nudged it with her foot. It let out a groan and rolled over, Rukia immediately drew Sode no Shriayuki and activated its shikai when she saw the bloodstained face of the 6th Espada

'Do not worry, he is not here to harm you' a calm, gentle voice said, Rukia looked over her shoulder to see a large pure white snowflake floating in mid-air, her zanpaku-to's spirit

"What happened to him? He's the 6th Espada, what could've done this?" she asked it

'I do not know, however if you ask he may tell you' Sode no Shriayuki told her, moving over to float above the fallen Espada. Rukia decided to take her weapons advice and nudged the side of Grimmjows face with the flat of her zanpaku-tos blade

"Hello Grimmjow, nice to see you again" she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Grimmjows eyes settled on the unseated 13th Division officer and tried to push himself up into a sitting position. As soon as he did he let out a low cry of pain and the blood pool around his body started to get even larger

"What…do…you…want…Soul Reaper?" he asked, putting as much content in his voice as he could, which was hard since half his blood was lying in a big pool on the surrounding sidewalk

"Who did this to you?" she asked, kneeling down next to him, it was obvious even to someone outside the 4th Division that the Arrancars wounds were fatal, he'd be lucky to last more than a few minutes, and she'd need more than that in order to get the necessary intel out of the Espada

"Fix me up…and I…just might…tell…you" he said managing a grin. Rukia glared at him, then stood up and muttered a kido spell, Grimmjow felt his wounds knit back together and the bleeding slowed down until it had almost stopped, almost

"Thanks girlie, I guess I owe you one" he said, struggling to stand, leaning on Pantera for support

"Tell us what we need to know and we'll call it even" she replied, holding Sode out in front of her in case he tried anything, she knew from experience that this Espada wasn't exactly the most trustworthy of Aizens mutated hollows

"Fine, then I won't feel so bad about hacking you and your boyfriend over there apart and taking off" he said

"Well what're you waiting for, an engraved invite? Ask away" he told Rukia, a grin spreading across his face

In the next chapter – Tenalava and his brainwashed puppet pay a visit to the Urahara shop to do a little shopping

To be continued, like always, all reviews and feedback on the fic are greatley appreciated


	5. Shop Til You Drop

Firstly, thanks to everyone who's taken the time to review, I realy appreciate it guys (and girls)

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, if I did, Ulquiorra would be even more angsty, Nnotoria would get what's coming to him, Byakuya would have a brother-in law and Orihime and Matsumoto would have their own cooking show in Seireti

But alas I don't, now I have to deal with it, like everyone else

Chapter five: Shop til you drop

Meanwhile the Urahara shop was as conspicuous as it always was, Uraharas three assistants had only just opened it as business had been slow the past few days, no Soul Reapers had shown up and aside from Ichigo dropping by, no-on had so much as set as foot inside its door except Urahara, Ururu, Jinta and Tessai.

Ururu was busy sweeping up and Jinta was sitting behind the counter, Tessai was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly Ururu dropped her broom and straightened up, standing perfectly still, like a robot

"Hey what's wrong?" Jinta asked her

"Something's coming, something bad" she replied, before she could say anymore the front door was mashed into splinters and Tenalava and Yoruichi rushed in

"Sorry about the mess, we've just come to do some emergency shopping" Tenalava said almost apologetically. As soon as the two children saw the remnant of his hollow mask and sprung into action. Jinta grabbed his iron pole and leapt at the Arrancar while Ururu aimed her cannon at the Espada. Suddenly Yoruichi disappeared and Ururu was aware of someone standing behind her

"I won't let you hurt my brother" a strained voice said as a kido blast tore through the girl, who collapsed in a pool of blood. Jinta heard her cry of pain and hesitated in his swing, which was all Tenalava needed, he grabbed the iron pole and wrenched it out of the boys grasp, then brought it around and slammed it down onto his forehead like a wrecking ball. He let out a moan and slumped to the floor.

"Well, the security here definitely needs some work" he said, noticing how sickened Yoruichi looked, he realised that when he'd messed with her memories, he removed the hardened warrior part of her personality, she still had her skills, but not the commitment to use them to their full extent

"Brother, was that really necessary?" she asked, her voice full of shock and remorse for what she'd just done

"Yes, those children work for one of the most evil of the Soul Reapers, he trained and equipped the ones who killed our parents, they're accessories to their deaths, they deserved it so don't feel bad about it, they had it coming" he told her

"Right, still, I don't like hurting children" she muttered

"I agree but these brats deserved it, our parents might be alive if their master hadn't helped the other Soul Reapers kill them" the 5th Espada reassured her

"Miss Shihouin, what is the meaning of this?" a stern voice demanded, both turned around to see Tessai standing at the back door

"Shihouin? The name rings a bell but I'm Yoruichi Conquistes" she replied, sounding very confused. Tessai rounded on the Espada

"What have you done to her, hollow?" he demanded, hurling a level 78 kido spell at the 5th Espada, only to have Yoruichi throw herself in front of her 'brother' and take the blast, she dropped to the floor, a smoking hole on her arm. Instinctively Tessai rushed to her aid but a hand clasped his arm in an iron vice

"No-one hurts my 'sister', got that?" he said, drawing out the sister part as long as he could. He hurled Tessai over his head, still holding his arm in an iron grip, slamming him into the ceiling, then into the floor, then the nearby wall, again and again and again. For good measure he grabbed Jinta's iron pole and brought it down on the motionless shop assistant again and again as hard as he could.

"Do me a favour and keep an eye on these scum while I go find what we need" Tenalava told Yoruichi, his face spattered with Tessai's blood, disappearing before she could reply. Not sure what to do she started looking around the shop, running her hand over the items stacked on the shelves, everything in here seemed so familiar, she didn't know why, but it did. As she reached the cash register a memory flashed before her eyes

_Start flashback_

"_You sure you don't want to stay?" Urahara asked her_

"_I'm sure, besides, I've got some things I need to take care of anyway" she told him_

"_Well if you're ever in town, you're more than welcome to stay here for as long as you want" he said_

"_I'm counting on it, you didn't think I helped you escape just because of your looks did you?" she asked jokingly, Urahara hugged her_

"_Take care Yoruichi" he said softly_

"_I will, you take care of this place, and yourself too, sandal hat" she replied before turning and walking away_

End Flashback 

Yoruichi snapped back to her senses as her 'brother' returned carrying a large doll under his arm

"Come on, we need to get going, I don't want to be here when Urahara comes back" he said urgently

"Brother, I just remembered something, Urahara was in it" she said happily, pleased to have gotten some of her memory back

"Don't be ridiculous, those are just fake memories he planted in your head so he'd turn us against each other, now get moving" he told her

Once they were outside the shop he drew Cascavela Ingestias and clicked it four times. A portal appeared out of nowhere and Szayel stepped out of it

"You rang Tenalava?" he asked sarcastically

"Who's he?" Yoruichi asked, as soon as Szayel laid eyes on her he leapt back and assumed a fighting stance

"You imbecile, what in the name of Las Noches compelled you to bring her here?!" he shrieked, his hand on the hilt of Fornicaras

"It's O.K, she's with us now, I've got the doll, can you modify it?" he said as rudely as Szayel, shoving the Tenshintai into the 8th Espadas arms

"I should be able to make the necessary modifications" he said, in awe of the technology he'd just been given

"Good, will you be able to get it ready in time?" Tenalava asked

"I should. I must say Tenalava, if Aizen or Ulquiorra knew of this, they'd be most displeased" he said, enjoying the scared look that flashed across his fellow Espadas face

"And you're not going to tell them, unless you want my Vasto Lorde friends to come get you in the middle of the night" he said, savouring the look of terror that spread over the Octava Espadas features, he knew he couldn't trust Szayel. But he knew he could predict him

"Very well then, contact me when you reach the destination, it should be ready by then" Szayel said, not able to mask the fear in his voice as he returned to Hueco Mundo

"What destination? Brother where are we going?" Yoruichi asked him, sounding very confused and lost

"It's across town, we're going to the Kurosaki Clinic"

In the next chapter – Tenalavas enemies grow as the last Quincy and Urahara join the hunt, and his plans for the stolen Tenshintai are revealed

To be continued, please review


	6. Wrath Of The Quincy

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Chapter Six: Wrath of the Quincy

As the two 'siblings' crossed the city Tenalava took the time to reflect on the recent events, he'd gained an incredibly powerful and extremely loyal ally in Yoruichi, gotten rid of Grimmjow and as soon as he brought Yoruichi back to Las Noches and turned her into an Arrancar, he'd be given a major promotion, all things considered, he'd done pretty well for himself.

"Brother, why are you smiling?" Yoruichi quipped innocently

"Oh, I'm just thinking how we'll finally be able to get on with our lives after we've avenged our parents" he told her as they kept pressing onwards, making good time

A few hollows had seen the two and fell into line behind them forming a small convoy of negative spirits behind the brainwashed Shinigami and the Espada, unaware of who was watching the two 'siblings'

Suddenly a mosquito like hollow that had joined the convoy let out a high-pitched wail as it fell away, a large blue arrow sticking through its head

Tenalava looked back and saw the hollow as its body broke apart. He quickly realised who was trailing them

"Get out of here you idiots, slow him down" he snapped at the hollows, who sped up

"I. Said. GET. HIM!" he roared, drawing Cascavela Ingestias and clicking it, the hollows stopped and about faced, throwing themselves at the figure who'd shot the arrow as Tenalava and Yoruichi sped away

The gang of hollows swarmed towards the figure, intent on tearing it apart for threatening their master. As they got closer and closer the figure didn't move, apparently not scared, as soon as they got within ten feet of it the figure raised its bow and fired a flurry of arrows, one after the other in rapid succession. When it lowered it there was a massive pile of moaning, twitching hollows, still ten feet away, none had got any closer after the figure had started shooting

Uryu lowered Ginrei Kojaku and took a look around, spying a tiny rat like hollow he fired another shot, the little hollow fell onto its back, a blue arrow protruding from its chest

"Well, that was strange" he said to himself, reaching down to pick up the sewing supplies he'd dropped and preparing to continue home when he heard footsteps behind him, he spun around to see Hanataro, Sora, Tatsuki, Orihime and Kio approaching him

"Hello Orihime, as always it's a pleasure to meet you" he said politely, bowing

"Oh, it's nice to see you too Uryu" Orihime replied, taken back by his unusually formal greeting

"You missed one" Sora said, pointing behind the last Quincy. He held his shopping bags up high and let go, spinning around and summoning his bow, placing three shots in the sunflower shaped hollow that had appeared behind them, one in its head, one in its chest and one in its neck. He dissipated the bow and grabbed for the bags, trying to catch them in mid-air and show off but missing one, which spilled its contents over the rooftop.

Grmubling he reached down to shovel the sewing supplies back into the bag, Tatsuki bending down to help him.

"You don't need to show off and act all cool and smooth you know, being a Quincy's cool enough" she told him, handing Uryu a pack of needles

"You know what I am?" he asked, looking surprised

"Orihime told her, plus everyone in Soul Society knows about you, the last Quincy" Sora said

"Well, there is another one" Kio added, pushing a lock of hair out of his eyes

"Ryuken doesn't count" Uryu growled before noticing Kios hollow mask, arm and the 12th Division insignia on the sleeve of his uniform

"You're in that maniac Kurostuchi's Division aren't you?" he asked, raising his bow ever so slightly

"Yeah, so what? And don't talk about Captain Kurostuchi that way, I owe him my life" Kio replied threateningly, drawing his zanpaku-to

"Well, allow me to write off that debt" Uryu said, aiming his bow at the Soul Reapers head, intending to show Kio the error of supporting the one who'd experimented on his grandfather. Realising that'd kill each other unless he did something Sora quickly stepped in between Kio and Uryu

"Hey chill guys, we're all on the same side here, Kio the hunt's still on, you can pick fights with the Quincy later if you get the Captainship"

"Hunt?" Uryu asked, Orihime filled him in as they left the rooftop and headed down the street

"They've got some nerve, destroying hollows is their duty, they've turned it into some kind of competition because they're squabbling over a title? It's things like this that make me see why the Quincy hated the Soul Reapers" he said, barely able to keep his anger in check

"Don't worry, the Captains are…" Sora started before Uryu cut him off

"As soulless and detached from humanity as the hollows you're hunting if they're going along with this, don't they know how many innocent spirits they're putting at risk? Do they even care?" he snapped

"O.K, you've had your 'I hate Soul Reapers' rant, now can you please help us out with our problem?" Kio told him

"Fine but that doesn't make us friends or anything" Uryu said, the content in his voice obvious

"Didn't expect it to" Kio replied with just as much content

"Now, can we PLEASE go do something?" Tatsuki asked, before anyone could say anything Kisuke Urahara appeared in front of them

"I couldn't help overhearing your talk and there's something I think you need to see" he told them, sounding relaxed but very uneasy, like he was trying hard not to let his concern and anger show. He turned around and walking off. The Soul Reapers, Quincy and humans hurried off after him

Five minutes later they were staring at the Urahara shop, the front door had been smashed to pieces and the inside looked like it had been struck by a tornado. Uraharas three assistants were lying on futons at the back of the shop, barely breathing

"What happened?" Orihime asked, clapping her hands to her mouth in horror as she saw the bloodstains on the walls and floor

"I don't know, when I got back it was like this, Ururu and Jinta are out cold and someone's beaten Tessai into a coma" he said grimly

"And there's a big mess of Soul Reapers running around town right now" he added, almost accusingly, pointing his stick at Kio, Hanataro and Sora

"What? You think we'd do something like this?" Kio snapped

"No way, my brother wouldn't" Orihime gasped

"Damm right I wouldn't" Sora added

"Yea, you're right, sorry about that, I'm just mad about this. Even Aizen and his Arrancar don't mess with my store, it's not like there's anything here they'd want anyway" Urahara said apologetically

"Did whoever did this take anything?" Uryu asked, he sensed a familiar presence here but he wasn't sure whose, and another one that he really, really didn't like

"I haven't checked yet, but don't think they did, it might've been the Vizard trying to prove a point or something" Urahara said, scowling

"Transfer body…" Jinta said, trying to lift his head and failing

"What? What did they take" Urahara asked, walking over to kneel down next to Jinta. He had a large purple bruise over the left side of his face in the shape of his iron pole, his lip was cut and he had a black eye

"A transfer body, I saw one of them, a guy with a weird helmet carrying it out of the store, the other one was Miss Yoruichi" he whispered, even speaking was a great effort in his state

"Yoruichi? Why would she attack this place?" Hanataro thought out loud

"Don't know, but I'm definitely going to ask her when I find her" Urahara said, his eyes brimming with fury, not at Yoruichi, but at whoever had taken the transfer body

"Why would they steal a tenshintai? It just manifests a zanpaku-tos spirit, nothing else" Kio asked Urahara. Then Uryu realised what the Espada wanted to use it for

"Unless they want to manifest something else inside a Soul Reaper" he said. Urahara's look darkened

"We haven't got a lot of time, we need to get to the Kurosaki Clinic" he told them taking off down the street at great speed, his sandals clacking against the concrete pavement, ignoring his hat as it fell off his head and landed on the street behind him. The others took off after the former Captain. They knew if something had Urahara so worked up, it wasn't a good thing

As Tenalava and Yoruichi reached the rooftop of the building next to the Kurosaki Clinic Szyael appeared out of a portal to stand alongside them.

"It's ready" he told the 5th Espada

"Thanks" Szayel turned to go when Tenalava grabbed his shoulder

"Wait, you'll want to stay around for this bit, I could use your help" he told him

"Really? Will it be that interesting?" he asked sceptically

"Trust me, you will not want to miss this" he told Szayel, his ruthless, sadistic grin creeping across his soulless face

In the next chapter – Tenalava has his sights set on adding another soul to his team, but can the last Quincy and the hunters stop him? And what will Tatsuki do when she's pushed to the limit by the 5th Espada?

To be continued, as always, all reviews are appreciated and encouraged


	7. Belts Of A Champion

Sorry for the long delay, homework and christmas shopping's been eating into my writing time

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, although if I did, the Shinigami Womens association would have a restraining order on Mayuri, Chad's band would've gone multi-platinum and Renji would be the newest addition to the Kuchiki family

Chapter Seven: The Belts of a champion

The Kuroasaki clinic stood out in the late afternoon sun as it slipped away under to horizon, bathing the building in a warm orange-yellow glow, giving the place a calming, serene appearance. Unfortunately that didn't extend inside the building

"GET OFF ME YOU FRUITCAKE!" Ichigo yelled, throwing his father back across the kitchen after he'd taken him by surprise, yet again.

"Oh Masaki, what a terrible child we've raised" Isshin wailed, kneeling before the massive portrait of his wife on the far side of the kitchen

"Do they always go at it like this?" a woman's spirit asked Karin, who ignored it as she sat at the table, sipping from her juice carton

"It's not polite to ignore people Karin" Yuzu told her sister. Karin shrugged

"Meh, I'm still in denial about this whole spirit seeing thing" she replied taking another sip of juice as the ghost behind her groaned and banged on the table, trying to get her attention.

"I need some air" Ichigo declared, stalking past Yuzu and Karin to his room, the ghost made to follow him but he turned around and the glare he gave it made the spirit shirk away and cower behind the table

"Is he always this…moody?" it asked Karin

"Pretty much" she said, not turning around

In his room Ichigo opened his window and sat down on the bed, enjoying the cool air drifting in from outside.

"Ichigo, Ichigo" a muffled voice cried, Ichigo stood up and looked down to see a flattened Kon on the bed where he'd been sitting

"Oh, it's you, didn't see you there" he told him, grabbing a magazine and flicking through it

"Didn't see me? You nearly killed me. And would it kill ya to cut back on the fast food, you weigh a ton" Kon yelled

"Do not" Ichigo replied, pummelling Kon with his right hand

"THIS WILL NOT STAND, PREPARE FOR MY REVENGE ICHIGO KUROASKI!" Kon cried, lunging at Ichigo, arms outstretched. Not looking up Ichigo grabbed Kon and threw him forwards, out of the window

"Maybe I can get a good nights sleep tonight" he muttered before seeing a hollow on the opposite rooftop

"Guess not" he said, sighing as he looked down into the dumpster beneath his window, trying to see Kon

"This is perfect, he'll go after that hollow I sent there as bait, then we can grab him" Tenalava told Szayel

"Are you sure he'll take the bait?" the Octava Espada asked the 5th

"Definitely, he's a chivalrous fool, he won't run the risk of the hollow devouring anyone, his kind are the easiest to manipulate" Tenalava replied, smiling wickedly

"Not if we've got anything to say about it" said a trio of voices from down below them, looking down Szayel, Yoruichi and Tenalava saw Orihime, Tatsuki, Sora, Kio, Hanataro and Uryu looking up at him

"How charming, we'll play with you kids later, we've got a soul to corrupt" Tenalava said, turning to leave. A blue energy arrow struck the rooftop right next to him, blowing a small chunk out of it

"You sure about that?" Uryu asked, aiming the arrow at the 5th Espada

"Positive" Tenalava replied, snapping his fingers, all around them hollows appeared from behind trash cans, out of the shadows and dropped down form the sky to surround the group

"Are you sure you want to go through with this? We have you at quite a disadvantage" Szayel asked the group. A small cat like hollow to Szayel's left was struck down by a blue energy arrow

"That answer your question?" Uryu asked

"Quite" Tenalava replied, the hollows converged on the group and battle commenced

Tatsuki immediately assumed her fighting stance, determined to meet to oncoming charge of hollows head on. Suddenly Kio stepped in front of her

"Stay back, you don't have any powers, you'll only get in the way in a fight like this" he ordered, more harshly than he'd meant it to sound but to many people had been killed in the hunt and he didn't want to add another one to that total

"Just do what he stays Tatsuki, I don't want to see my best friend get hurt" Orihime told her kindly, summoning her Santen Kesshun to protect herself, Tatsuki and Hanataro

"Don't worry, this happens to me a lot, you kind of get used to it" Hanataro told her to reassure her, unfortunately it didn't work

"I should be fighting out there, I'm not a coward, I'm not weak" she muttered under her breath

Sora, Kio and Uryu all stood back to back. Uryu drew his bow, Sora activated Acidwires shikai and Kio raised his left hand, preparing a _cero_ blast

"You do have a zanpaku-to you know, maybe you should think about using it for a change" Sora told 12th Divisions third seat

"You've got a point, I have been neglecting it a bit lately" Kio said, drawing the weapon

"Valazachi Oniga (Berserk Wolf). Unleash the blade storm!" at his command the zanpaku-to transformed into its shikai. Now Kio sported a blade on each wrist, elbow, foot and heel. With a war like cry he leapt into the air, a whirlwind of blades and landed in the midst of the hollows, two bird like hollows dropped to the floor, hacked to ribbons. He somersaulted, spun, kicked and swiped, his unique caporea style of combat sending many hollows to the Soul Society, after being hacked to pieces.

Uryus arrows landed amongst the hollows, dropping a dozen within seconds, blood trickled down his hands onto the sidewalk but his pace or the intensity of his stare didn't falter once

Soras Acidwire danced and arched through the air and through the ranks of the hollows, many dropped or fell back shrieking in agony, limbs or masks melted away by the 10th Division shinigami's zanpaku-to

"Damm it, it took me all morning to get those hollows into position" Tenalava growled

"All morning? You mean you anticipated this would happen?" Szayel asked, amazed. The 5th Espada scowled

"Not really, I'd planned to ambush Kurosaki with this trap but it works just as well for these meddlesome Soul Reapers and Ryoka" then he noticed Tatsuki standing behind Orihimes shield and the look on her face and grinned wickedly

"Follow me, this ought to be fun" he cackled, leaping down from the rooftop, both he and Szayel used flashsteps to vanish and re-appear behind the shield. Tenalava hurled Hanataro off to one side, hitting a wall, which collapsed on him with an almighty crash and the Octava Espada knocking Orihime down with a backhanded blow

"You want to fight Ryoka? Then why don't you try us?" he asked, she glared back but said nothing

"Guess you need a little incentive" Tenalava said, reaching down and hauling Orihime up roughly by her neck

"Let her go!" Tatsuki yelled, Tsubaki and the Shun Sun Riku not used in the shield all flew at Tenalava, but he swatted them aside like flies. Uryu saw the two Espada but he and the others were too busy fighting the hollows to get through to help

"Make me" Tenalava said, almost childishly, tightening his grip. Tatsuki balled her hands up into fists then realised how futile it would be if she punched him

"How can you defeat an Espada if you can't even defeat yourself?" Szayel asked her mockingly. He drew and swallowed Fornicaras, turning into his released form and spraying black liquid form his back. It fell on Tatsuki and slid away, creating eight copies like it had done with Uryu and Renji back in Las Noches

Szyael gave the command and the copies rushed Tatsuki

'What can I do? Orihime always used to need me to protect her. But now she's got these powers she doesn't need me anymore, all I do is get in her way' she thought as she blocked and kicked back two of her clones

'I don't have any powers, I can't do anything anymore. I can't even save Orihime, like I promised her I would' two more of the clones grabbed her arms as flashes of colour appeared around her torso, then vanished again

'I'm pathetic, what would Ichigo say if he saw me now?" she thought as a third clone pummelled her abdomen. Through the pain she saw an image of Ichigo and herself appear, she remembered it from the talk they'd had before he, Uryu and Chad had gone off to Hueco Mundo

'I want to go, Orihime's my friend too carrot top' she demanded. Ichigo shook his head

'You can't, Uryu and Chad have their own powers, you don't, you'd only get killed and then who'd protect Orihime?"

"I can't anymore, you guys fight those monsters, all I'm good for is beating up mean kids" she said, her eyes downcast. Ichigo reached out and grabbed her chin, lifting her head up to look him directly in the eye

"You can stop the pity party right now Tatsuki, Orihime still needs you. You made a promise to her and you're gonna keep it, no matter who she needs protecting from. You got that?" he didn't wait for her to reply before casting her his usual scowl, turning around and walking away as the image faded

"I got it Ichigo, I got it" she whispered, suddenly there was a massive gust of wind and a blinding light, throwing the two Espada and the clones backwards, with Tenalava letting go of Orihime

When the light faded Tatsuki looked down and gasped at what she saw. Her street clothes had disappeared, being replaced by a black and white giko and there was a white headband around her head with two black flower symbols on it. But most surprising of all were the belts looped around her torso. There were eight, one red, one black, one blue, one green, one made of metal, one encrusted with clear gemstones, one that was just a length of black chain and one bright yellow.

"Wow Tatsuki, you've got powers now too" Orihime said, standing up, rubbing her neck where Tenalava had grabbed it

"I do?" she replied in amazement, reaching down and touching the yellow belt, which instantly disappeared and re-appeared around her waist

"Powers schmowers, you're still doomed no matter what fancy belts you've got" Tenalava sneered, hurling a _cero _blast at Tatsuki. The karate champion stretched out her hand, caught the blast and threw it at one of her clones, which was vapourised

"Cool, looks like each of these belts gives me a different power" Tatsuki said, touching the blue belt, which re-appeared in place of the yellow one at her waist, which returned to its original position looped around her torso

"Get her" Szayel yelled to the clones, who rushed Tatsuki, only for her to disappear and re-appear behind one of the clones, as if she was using flashsteps, she swapped the blue belt for the red one and delivered a kick to the clones back, which was propelled into the air and smashed into a wall on the other side of the street. It fell back onto the sidewalk and faded from sight

"Awesome, I think I'm gonna like this, the belts of the champion" she said, deciding on a name for her new powers

"Nice name" Sora commented, dodging an attack from a nearby hollow

Tenalava hurled another cero blast at Tatsuki, who touched the yellow belt and caught the blast again, and hurled it back at the Espada, who had to throw himself to one side to avoid being vapourised by his own attack. Tatsuki swapped to the blue belt, disappearing and re-appearing behind Tenalava. She swapped belts again, this time to the metal one, balling her left hand into a fist she watched as it transformed into metal, then brought it down on top of the 5th Espada with all the force of a wrecking ball. He flew backwards, landed in a flowerbed and came up spitting out soil

"Szayel, screw the trash, we're getting out of here" he snapped, Szayel floated beside him and turned to leave, Yoruichi followed obediently behind him. Before leaving Tenalava pointed a clawed finger at Tatsuki and Orihime

"This is not over, not by a long shot, I hereby swear one of you shall die by the others hand, in the name of the mightiest Vasto Lorde I swear it" he hissed before leaping away. Enraged, Tatsuki made to go after the cowardly Arrancar before Orihime grabbed her shoulder

"Let them go, we need to finish up here" she told her. Tatsuki touched the blue belt and leapt headfirst into the hollow battle royal

Far away Ichigo jumped from rooftop to rooftop, following the small hollow he'd seen near the clinic. It disappeared behind an air vent and he followed it, when he rounded the side of the vent he saw the hollow wasn't there and the sound of clapping filled his ears.

"Well well, you've certainly given my friend Nitruz here a workout" a mocking voice said from the shadows, Ichigo raised Zangetsu as Tenalava stepped out, flanked by Szayel and the little roadrunner like hollow Nitruz.

"You! What're you doing here?" Ichigo demanded, Szayel laughed

"Me? I'm just here for the show" he replied as Tenalava stepped forward

"Which would be my show. Tenalava Conquistes, 5th Espada, at your service" he said, taking a small bow

"You can't be the 5th Espada, Nnoitra's the 5th" Ichigo replied, noticing another figure standing behind the Arrancar. Tenalava let out a horrible, grating laugh

"Please, you think that chauvinist was Aizens real choice? I'm the real 5th Espada, Nnoitra's just a poster boy to stop idiots like Grimmjow from taking the post. Now I'd like you to meet my 'sister'" he said as Yoruichi stepped out of the shadows and Ichigo's eyes nearly bulged out of his head

"Yoruicih? What're you doing with them?" he practically yelled

"Honestly, I'm not sure anymore" she replied honestly before Tenalava clicked Cascavela and she sprang into action, fulfilling her role as the goddess of flash. She darted forward and retreated back with Zangetsu clutched in her hand which she handed to her 'brother'

"Hey, give that back" Ichigo roared, activating his hollow form and lunging at the Espada

"Excellent, you just made my job a lot easier Ryoka. You three keep him back while I use this" Tenalava snapped at Nitruz, Szayel and Yoruichi. The three ran to intercept the substitute Soul Reaper while Tenalava grasped the tenshintai in one hand and plunged Zangetsu into it with his right. The doll shook violently for a minute before its appearance changed to resemble that of a 30-40 year old man, the spirit of Zangetsu

"Who are you? Where's Ichigo?" it demanded

"Sorry old timer, wrong number" Tenalava replied, stabbing the doll again. Zangetsu vanished to be replaced by a deathly white figure with soulless black and yellow eyes. Ichigo's inner hollow

"Hey, where am I and who're you?" You'd better tell me quick or you're dead" it snarled

"I'm Tenalava Conquistes, a hollow just like you, and I'm your ticket out of that soul prison he shoved you in" Tenalava told it, jabbing a finger at Ichigo

"O.K, I'm listening, what do I have to do?" it asked, relaxing ever so slightly

"Just take out all your frustrations on his nearest and dearest. Then to top it all off you get his body when you're done and a free ticket to the Arrancar army, sound like a good deal?" Tenalava asked, holding out a clawed hand. The hollow smiled, a cruel, evil, sadistic smile to match its rescuers

"Well when you put it that way, I'm in" it replied, shaking the hand of the Espada mariachi

"No…Zangetsu…stop him" Ichigo moaned, slipping into unconciousness

"Sorry Ichigo but Zangetsu doesn't live here any more. I'm El Agateau, hollow extraordinaire" it cackled as it's formed changed again, becoming a white, humanoid lizard with long orange hair, the last link to Ichigo Kurosaki

"So what now?" El Agateau asked Tenalava. The 5th Espada looked down and saw three Soul Reapers and one Espada racing along the street towards them

"Well now, we'll take this team for a little test drive" he replied as Ichigo faded out and lost consciousness

In chapter eight – Rukia, Renji, Ikkaku and Grimmjow try and save Ichigo, but have they arrived too late?

To be cotninued, all reviews and feedback are encouraged and appreciated


	8. The Rise Of EL Agateau

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, if I did, Momo and Tosahiro'd be getting hitched, Halbiel'd beat the stuffing out of Nnoitra and Momo would finally realise what a jerk Aizen was

Thanks for everyone weho's reviewed so far, I really appreciate it

Chapter eight: The rise of El Agateau

As the three shinigami advanced on the rooftop, the birthplace of the newest hollow, they picked up on the sound of ragged breathing and glanced back to see Grimmjow leaning on a streetlight for support, clutching his side

"Get going, or I'll cut you down" Renji snapped at the Espada

"I nearly died a few minutes ago, so cut me some slack shades" Grimmjow retorted. Renji flicked his arm and the streetlight fell to the ground, everything above where Grimmjows hand had been had been sliced clean off

"Wanna test my patience anymore?" Renji asked, sheathing Zabimaru

"Now now boys, if you kill each other whose going to protect me from the hollows?" Rukia asked them, a shadow of a smirk on her face

"Yeah shades, listen to your girlfriend" Grimmjow said snidely

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFREIND!" Renji yelled, forgetting who was there to hear it

"Heh, whatever you say shades, whatever you say" Grimmjow replied, casting a glance at Rukia who didn't seem phased by Renji's denial at all. He nodded slightly and they kept advancing onwards

Up on the roof Tenalava and his allies looked down at the advancing quartet. Szayel looked nervous, Yoruichi looked confused, Nitruz didn't really have a look since it wasn't intelligent enough to have one, Tenalava was smiling wickedly and the 5th Espadas newest recruit was flexing its claws in anticipation of the upcoming fight

"You excited?" Tenalava asked the hollow, which nodded

"Can't wait, I've been looking forward to this fight since, well, as long as I can remember" it replied

"Yes, speaking of fights we need to get you…presentable for yours" Tenalava said, placing a clawed hand on the hollows face, then yanking it away and taking most of it's mask along with it.

El Agateau dropped to his knees, clawed hands clutching at its face. His hollow form began to break down, dissolving into pure blue light. The light flexed and winded before settling on a new shape. El Agateau rose to his feet as his new form was revealed. His hollow skin had disappeared, now he was clad in the attire of an Arrancar, he was still a red head but now his hair was a dark red, the colour of spilt blood, instead of Ichigo's orange. The last remnants of his hollow mask were on his right cheek and took the form of a patch of scaled skin. Like Ichigo he also had a zanpaku-to and like his it was strapped on his back and looked like the one Ichigo had used when he'd first become a Soul Reaper

"Wow, talk about a last minute makeover" Szayel muttered

"I assume it's to your liking El Agateau?" Tenalava asked the new Arrancar, who nodded

"Hell yeah and don't call me El Agateau, call me Hilea Agateau" he replied as the three shinigami and one Espada finally reached the rooftop

"Ichigo!" Rukia cried out as soon as she landed on the roof, starting to go to his aid when Tenalava stepped in her way

"That's as far as you go" he commanded

"Get out of my way or I'll cut you down" Rukia snarled, drawing Sode no Shriayuki

"I'd normally jump at the chance to teach Byakuya's little sister some manners but I've already promised my friend here the first shot at you so I'll have to wait my turn" the 5th Espada responded

"You know my brother? How did you…" Rukia started, but stopped as soon as she saw who stepped out from behind Tenalava

"Yo Rukia-sama, nice day isn't it?" it said mockingly

"What the Hueco Mundo are you?" Renji snapped at Hilea, who smiled coldly

"Name's Hilea Agateau, friends call me Hilea, so please call me Agateau, now, die" he replied, reaching for its zanpaku-to, which had a blood red hilt

"Crimsona Constraintas (Chain Of Red Rust), let the blood flow" he cried. The sword disappeared and Hilea assumed his true hollow form. He resembled the first hollow form he'd taken when first freed from Zangetsu but was a foot taller and instead of being white, his hollow skin was blood red. As Renji looked closer he saw links of blood red, rusty spiked chains wrapped around his arms and torso, digging into the skin of the Arrancar and in his right hand he gripped a sword hilt with a length of chain protruding form it. The final link ended in a blade like spike and the chain was stiff, like a sword blade. The most prominent thing about his new form was the blood, it seemed to coat his skin like slime coated a frog and was constantly flowing from the thin cuts that criss-crossed his skin, dripping off his clawed hands, the chains and his chain like sword

Without warning Hilea lunged forwards at Renji, bringing his sword down on the Shinigami's head. Renji's arms reacted almost on impulse and Zabimaru whipped upwards to block the strike, sending blood flying everywhere, splattering the face of his insane looking opponent

"What's the matter? Its only blood" the hollow chuckled manically, grasping the end of Zabimaru with his free hand and swinging his sword at Renji again.

Zabimaru flexed inwards but Hileas sword whipped around it and dug itself into the bone, skin and tendons of Renji's left shoulder. Renji let out a cry and sank to his knees, still desperately trying to keep Hilea at bay with Zabimaru, now clutched feebly in his right hand

"Renji!" Rukia cried, surging forwards with Ikkaku only to have Tenalava, Nitruz and Yoruichi jump in front of them

"Now now, let the boys play" the 5th Espada chided mockingly

"You're a lieutenant captain and this is all you've got? I'm insulted" Hilea sneered, pulling on the hilt of Constraintas so the tip was yanked out of Renji's shoulder in a spray of blood

"Normally I wouldn't bother killing garbage like you, but since you're a friend of Ichigo's, I'll make an exception" he said, putting as much loathing into each word as he could. He raised his sword hilt high above his head then brought it back down, the blade descending like the blade of the Sokyoku towards the defenceless Soul Reaper

"NO! RENJI!" Rukia screamed, pushing forward only to have Tenalava hold her back, laughing his head off at her pain and torment. At that moment Yoruichi looked more disgusted than Ikkaku had ever seen her

Renji closed his eyes, feeling the cool night air on his blood soaked skin and hearing the birds chirping in the distant trees. He could hear the air whistle as the blade descended then a metallic clang as it suddenly stopped. Wondering why he wasn't dead he opened his eyes to see a cat like claw gripping Hileas blood soaked zanpaku-to, looking more clearly he saw the arm and the rest of the body attached to the hand that had saved his life. It was Grimmjow

"Sorry but it wouldn't be much good to repay Rukia by letting her boyfriend die" he told Hilea

"She's not my…girlfriend" Renji muttered under his breath, whispering a healing kido spell to stop the bleeding, the blood flow slowed, but barely

"Traitor" Hilea spat at Grimmjow

"You're not an Espada, or part of Aizens army, and I was never on your side to begin with, so I'm not betraying anyone" Grimmjow replied, calmly extending his energy claws and pushing Hileas zanpaku-to further upwards, away from Renji

"This is extraordinary, Agateau is less than an hour old but by my calculations, he has reached Espada level power already" Szayel said with glee, scribbling down notes on a piece of paper pulled from his uniform

"Sister, stop him" Tenalava cried, Yoruichi crossed her arms and remained still

"No" she replied simply

"What did you say?" Tenalava asked threateningly

"I said no, I'm not helping you anymore" she said, enjoying the enraged look that spread across her 'brothers' face

"Fine, have it your way then. I'll just wipe all your memories clean, you'll be nothing more than a blank slate, a mindless doll" he snarled, shoving Rukia back to land next to Renji and holding up Cascavela. Ikkaku took advantage of Yoruichi's refusal to fight and pushed past her, only for Nitruz to careen into his chest and knock him backwards.

"Tenalava this isn't a good idea, remember what happened last time you…" Szayel started to protest

"Be quiet. When I want your opinion I'll give it to you. I'm not letting this little alley cat insult me and get away with it" he replied, clicking his zanpaku-to rapidly, the rebellious look in Yoruichi's eyes faded and they clouded over again, this time her eyes became a blurred dark yellow colour and she went limp, swaying on her feet slightly, as if she could barely stand up

"That's better, now let's try that again, go and…" the 5th Espada didn't get a chance to finish. Yoruichi let out an inhuman scream of fury and lunged at him, her kido energy crackling around her body. The two fell in a heap on the rooftop and rolled further towards the edge

"GET OFF!" Tenalava roared, kicking out with both legs, lifting Yoruichi upwards and she sailed over the edge of the building

Forgetting whom they were facing, Rukia and Grimmjow ran to the edge of the roof, leaving Ikkaku to step in and fight Hilea

Down below Yoruichi leapt to her feet. White kido energy crackled and buzzed in the air around her body and her eyes became darker and darker with every second. Her skin started to get darker, whiskers sprouted from her face, her fingers and hands lengthened into cat like claws and a long black tail sprouted from the end of her spine. She screeched like a cat and took off, using flash steps she vanished from sight within a heartbeat

"Oh this isn't good" Grimmjow told the Soul Reaper, hands gripping the railing that ran along the edge of the rooftop

"Why not?" Rukia asked

"Like Szayel said, Tenalava tried this once before and it wasn't good, the Arrancar he tried it on went berserk and levelled a fifth of Las Noches before we managed to destroy it" Grimmjow told her, now looking more scared than Rukia had ever seen the Arrancar look

"And that was just a Fraccion, who knows what someone as powerful as Yoruichi will do" he added, thankful he wasn't going to have to find her, or get in her way while she was on her rampage

Behind them Ikkaku was kicked backwards and slammed against a air vent, crumpling it like a paper bag. He let out a low groan of pain and put a hand to his head, with now had a long red gash running down its left side. Hilea de-activated his zanpaku-to and stood with Szayel to flank Tenalava, now standing atop another air vent

"I have to admit it was unfortunate to lose Yoruichi, but it doesn't matter, she was just the trailer, now for the main event" he called out, raising his arms and face to the heavens as the sky behind him shimmered and warped into a dark portal.

The portal started to shake and tremble, like something immense was coming towards it. A pair of huge clawed hands appeared and grasped the sides of the portal, pushing it outwards, making it much, much wider. A huge figure stepped out of the portal, almost twice as tall as the building in front of it. It was humanoid in shape, clad in a black uniform with a hole in its upper torso big enough to park a truck inside with plenty of room to spare. Its face was a shining white mask with two huge horns adorning the front, teeth like medieval jousting lances and two couch sized eyes, they were what made the being so terrifying, bright orange they glistened like enormous gemstones in its face but were filled with a terrible emptiness that flooded the souls of all who dared gaze into them.

Renji struggled to his feet, all hope and fighting spirit vanishing from him like a lit candle left out in a cyclone. He knew what the Arrancar had unleashed, he'd seen them many nights in his nightmares, it was a…

"VASTO LORDE!" Grimmjow, Ikkaku and Rukia cried in unison. The massive Menos tilted its head to gaze down at the Soul Reapers, to it no bigger than ants and its eyes seemed to brighten. Its mouth opened slightly and it let out a low growl that chilled the Shinigami and Arrancar to the very cores of their souls

Across town another portal opened. Toshiro Hitsugaya, Kenpatchi Zaraki, Byakuya Kuchiki Izuru Kira and Momo Hinamori stepped through it one after the other and looked at the massive shape of the Vasto Lorde, visible even a mile away

"Well this ought to be interesting" Toshiro said sarcastically

"It's my fault, all my fault" Momo said softly, unable to look the Captains in the eye. She knew that before the day was done Karakura Town and even Soul Society could be lying in ruins. And it would all be her fault

In Chapter Nine – Can Momo step up and become the Soul Reaper she was meant to be? Or will the Vasto Lorde and the berserk Yoruichi doom her and Karakura town?

You know the drill, review, review, then review some more (please)!


	9. Putting The Cat Out

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, and I reckon I never will

Chapter Nine: Putting the cat out

A few streets across from the Vasto Lorde, the other hunters and Ryoka pressed onwards towards the huge, towering hollow. Every one of them had their poker face on, to mask how scared they were. Kisuke Urahara had never faced a Vasto Lorde, even when he was Captain, Hanataro knew he wouldn't stand a chance, Sora and Kio, both fresh from the academy had heard all the tales about the Vasto Lorde, the ultimate hollow, and how nigh invincible they were, Tatsuki had no idea how her new powers could help her take on something as powerful as the Vasto Lorde, Uryu, despite having defeated a Menos before knew this one was a far stronger opponent and Orihime readied the Shun Shun Rikka, knowing she might have to destroy it to save her home. That thought made a flicker of doubt cross her face, which Tatsuki noticed

"Scared?" she asked, Orihime nodded

"Don't worry, anyone would be scared if they had to go up against that" she said, looking up at the Vasto Lorde, now swinging its fist down on a rooftop in the distance

"Relax sister, anything happens I'll be there to protect you" Sora reassured her

"Yeah, so will I" Kio piped up

"And me too" Hanataro added

"As in Soul Society, I will make sure you come to no harm" Uryu assured her

"And I've got your back too" Urahara told her

"Thanks guys, I just don't want to have to…to." She trailed off

"Hey, you don't want to fight, you don't fight, between me, hat and clogs, the Quincy, your big bro and Hanataro this Vasto Lorde doesn't stand a chance" Kio told Orihime, the others all nodded in agreement

"And don't forget your deal, you don't need to fight either Hanataro, just heal me when I need patching up and we're both set when I win the hunt" Kio added to Hanataro

"Sweet, and I finally get to do more than just sweeping the Seiretei" Hanataro said

"And I don't have to spend all my off-duty time covering for Captain Kurostuchi when he's spying on the Shinigami Women's Association meetings" Kio added, to wide eyes from all present

"Err, do me a favour and don't tell Captain Kurostuchi I told you that" he asked them, Sora rolled his eyes

"Well that explains where he used to sneak off to when he was my lieutenant" Urahara noted, wondering if Kyoraku's lecherous habits were contagious

Suddenly the pavement in front of them exploded in a massive boom and the group fell back behind Orihimes shield, which deflected the shrapnel and debris with ease. Out of the dust cloud three Arrancar stalked forwards, the one in the middle had his hollow mask piece adorning his left ear to resemble an earring, the one on the lefts hollow mask was under his chin and resembled a pointed punk spike and the girl on the rights hollow mask adorned her left cheek and resembled a lightning tattoo

"Greetings Soul Reapers, I'm Velocitez, he's Accel and this lovely little lady here is Mercury N, and together we are…" the one in the middle said as they struck a dramatic pose

"…THE HYPER-CARR" he finished

"And now prepare to be the first victims of the greatest Arrancar team ever made" Accel said, drawing his zanpaku-to

A bestial cry echoed around the street and Yoruichi dropped from the sky to land right behind them. Letting out a low snarl she grabbed all three Arrancar and dragged them back into the billowing dust cloud

"Ahhh, what're you doing?"

"No not my eyes, please, don't tear out my…"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH" the screams of the three Arrancar echoed out from the dust cloud and then the trio fell silent.

Sora made to venture out from behind the shield when it was splattered by a spray of blood and Velocitez staggered out from the dust cloud, his hollow mask torn off and blood gushing from the stump on the end of his right elbow where his right forearm used to be and running into his eyes, moaning pitifully he moved towards the shield when a hand held out flat like a blade of flesh and bone erupted from his chest and he fell silent once again.

Yoruichi withdrew her right hand and levelled her gaze at the group, letting out an inhuman scream she lunged at the shield and started to beat down upon it, the kido lightning crackling around her body also bore down upon Orihimes barrier, seeing the savage, blood stained features of the once happy, witty Special Forces Commander chilled the group to the bone, even more than the notion of facing a Vasto Lorde

Suddenly a hand clamped down on her shoulder and she was hurled backwards, flying through the drifting dust cloud and landing with a crash on the far side of the street, Kenpatchi Zaraki hefted his zanpaku-to on his shoulder and set off after her, disappearing into the dust cloud, Izuru Kira followed close behind him

"You guys O.K?" Toshiro asked them, keeping his zanpaku-to at the ready in case Yoruichi re-appeared

"We're fine Captain Hitsugaya, well as fine as we can be given the situation" Sora replied, stepping outside the safety of the shield, feeling safe now Toshiro and the other Captains were present

"Like I told you when you joined the 10th Division, it's just Toshio, and what's the deal with Yoruichi?" the 10th Division commander replied

"No clue, she just started acting berserk, slaughtered a bunch of Arrancar and then started attacking us," Sora told him as Izuru came out of the cloud, a grave expression on his face

"It's bad, Zarakis got her pressed back but with the intensity she's fighting with, he won't be able to hold her back for long, and she didn't just slaughtered those Arrancar, she massacred them, I've never seen anything so savage" he told the others, a haunted look on his face, he knew the Arrancar were their enemies but even they didn't deserve what Yoruichi had done to the Hyper-Carr

"Any of you got an idea why she's gone so crazy?" Toshiro asked them

"Maybe she just snapped" Tatsuki suggested

"No, she would never 'snap', stress is defiantly not the cause of this, there has to be an outside influence at work" Byakuya said sternly, shooting Tatsuki an angry look for her suggestion

"Well she did help the 5th Espada break into my store, maybe he's done something, brainwashed her somehow" Urahara thought out loud

"It's possible, from what Intel we've managed to get on the guy he seems pretty manipulative. The important thing now is, how do we undo it and get the old Yoruichi back?" Toshiro replied

"Despite how much I wish to help, I must remind you that the reason we are here is to defeat the Vasto Lorde" Byakuya told Toshiro, who sighed

"What if we split up, half of us stay here to help Yoruichi and the others go to fight the Menos?" Izuru suggested

"General Yamamoto's orders were quite clear, we are to stop the Vasto Lorde by any means necessary" Byakuya replied, his eyes steadfast, all present knew it would be pointless to try and argue. But then the tiniest flicker of a smile crossed his face

"However Yoruichi may have information about the Vasto Lorde so saving her could prove useful, I agree with Izuru's suggestion, myself, Zaraki, Urahara, 4th Divisions 7th seat and 12th Divisions 3rd seat should remain here, everyone else should press on to fight the Vasto Lorde, we will catch up as soon as we can" he added, not wanting to disagree the others immediately took off up the street, back on course for their showdown with the Vasto Lorde

"Do you know if my sister is still alive?" Byakuya asked Kio

"I'm not sure, I haven't seen here since the hunt began" Kio replied truthfully, noticing the grim look that spread across Byakuya's face

"But given how tough she is, I'd bet my zanpaku-to she's still alive and fighting with everything she's got" he added

"I do not doubt it" Byakuya said, reading Senbonzakura

The dust cloud faded and on the far side Yoruichi was holding Zaraki by the throat, with his body pressed up against a nearby building, with by now had dozens of gashes running across it, from Yoruichi's kido and Zarakis sword slashes

As soon as she saw the other Soul Reapers she dropped Zaraki to the ground and rushed towards them, Kio leapt forwards to meet her charge but she went right past him using flash steps and instead appeared behind Byakuya. A cat like screech escaped her lips as she lunged for his neck, only to have her one time pupil disappear and re-appear behind her, she turned around to stare at him dumbfounded

"Cicada, you ought to know it you taught it to me" he replied

"I do not wish to fight you Yoruichi, please stand down and let us help you, if there is anything of the old you still left in there then please listen to me" he said almost pleadingly, she growled again and took a step forwards. A long, deep cut appeared on her right leg

"That was a warning, I do not wish to fight you but do not think that that means I won't kill you to defend myself, or put you out of your misery if the old Yoruichi is beyond saving, she'd rather that than live the rest of her days as the savage animal in front of me" Byakuya told her. Her features seemed to soften and all present relaxed their fighting stance slightly, then she disappeared and a cry of fear filled the air. She'd re-appeared behind Hanataro and hoisted him up into the air by his neck

"Help" Hanataro croaked, barley able to speak due to the iron like grip Yoruichi had on his throat

"Yoruichi, please, don't do this, this isn't you" Urahara pleaded, trying to stall for time

"Can't you take her out?" Kio asked Byakuya

"No, I can kill her easily but she'd know the instant my blades cut into her skin, Hanataro would be dead before she hit the ground" he replied grimly

"Than I guess I'll just have to give her another target to worry about" Kio muttered, charging forwards as Yoruichi tightened her grip on Hanataros neck, eyes gleaming with savage glee, suddenly Kio appeared alongside her and slashed at her with his left elbow blade, opening up a shallow wound on her left forearm. She immediately dropped Hanataro and focused on Kio, grabbing the Soul Reaper by his uniform, she directed a massive jolt of kido energy at him, bright lights flashed in front of his eyes and he felt the air rush past him as he connected with the building at the far side of the street and slid down to rest next to Zaraki, who by this time had recovered and was standing up

"That was reckless and crazy, with no regard for your own well being or safety. If you lose the hunt there'll be a seat in the 11th Division with your name on it" he told Kio, who lapsed into unconsciousness

Urahara took advantage of Yoruichi's distraction to get within arms reach of the berserk Soul Reaper and something no one had expected. He put his arms around her and hugged her

"I'm sorry Yoruichi," he whispered in her ear, and then he drove Benihime into her stomach

Pain filled Yoruichi's senses and through it all the memories Tenalava thought his zanpaku-to had consumed came flooding back

"_Well what do you think?" Urahara asked as a young looking Yoruichi gazed around at the massive training arena_

"_It's certainly…roomy" she replied_

"_Well thanks, I spend five months digging this cave out and that's all I get" Urahara huffed, then Yoruichi hugged him_

"_It's great Kisuke, you've excelled yourself this time" she told him, before breaking away and taking off using flash steps, Urahara laughed and set off after her_

"_This is impossible" Byakuya muttered under his breath, Yoruichi glared at the young Shinigami and slapped him across the face_

"_You can quit the 'I can't do it' talk right now, how're you gonna become a Captain if you give up whenever the going gets tough?" she asked him_

"_I know but this is impossible" he answered_

"_I'll tell you what, beat at flash-tag and I'll teach you the ultimate flash step technique" she said, Byakuya's eyes immediately lit up_

"_Really?" he asked_

"_Really, I swear on my stash of Chappy the Rabbit Soul Candy" she replied before vanishing and re-appearing behind him_

"_Come on Little Byakuya, d'you want to learn the ultimate flash-step technique or not?" she asked him, disappearing from sight again and re-appearing at the far end of the training area, Byakuya gave her a small smile and took off in pursuit_

"_You've learnt all I can teach you in the time that we have, I just hope it's enough, so good luck, I think you're going to need it" Yoruichi told Orihime and Chad_

"We won't need luck, we've got your training" Orihime replied before they left to meet up with Ichigo and if cats could smile, Yoruichi would have done as she set off after them

"Kisuke…" she said softly

"Yes?" he asked

"I'm sorry too" she told him before going limp and dropping down to the ground, sliding off the end of Benihime's blade she lay on the sidewalk in a pool of dark red blood

"Hold on, I can take care of this" Hanataro said, rising back up to his feet and tracing Hisogamaru over the deep wound in her stomach, within a few second it had sealed and she changed back into a cat, which was curled up asleep

"So she's not crazy anymore?" Zaraki asked, walking over to them carrying Kio over his shoulder

"No, I think she's back to her old self" Urahara replied

"How come she's a cat?" Zaraki asked

"Whenever she was hurt in the past she used to revert to that form, it helps her heal and recover faster" Byakuya answered, kneeling down and removing his scarf, taking great care he wrapped it around Yoruichi and held her in the crook of his arm

"Is it such a good idea to take her with us?" Hanataro asked, healing the dark purple bruise and burn marks on Kios head

"It would be no safer to leave her here, if Arrancar are crossing over form Hueco Mundo nowhere in Karakura is safe" Byakuya replied

"Well come on then let's get going, I don't wanna miss the fight" Zaraki said and at that the five Soul Reapers set off to catch up with the others

Further across town the others had advanced to within sight of the rooftop and they were horrified by what lay before them. The block looked like a war zone with every other building smashed into rubble by the Vasto Lorde, which stood silently on the far side of the rooftop, there were huge craters dotting the street like a bomb had gone off and rubble lay strewn about everywhere. On the rooftop the motionless forms of Ichigo, Rukia, Grimmjow, Renji and Ikkaku were tied to tall metal poles that had been sunk into the concrete, all of them were bloodied, bruised and battered

But that wasn't the worst part, which was the ones standing freely on the rooftop. Hilea, Szayel, the tiny hollow Nitruz, Kaname Tosen with the small Arrancar Wonderwice hiding behind him stood as silent and composed as sentries behind the ring master of the circus of evil, Tenalava Conquistes, the 5th Espada. His gaze turned towards the group and he smiled coldly

"Hello, we've been expecting you"

In Chapter Ten – Can Momo step up and become the Soul Reaper she was meant to be? Or will the Vasto Lorde, the Fifth Espada and his allies doom her and Karakura town?

To be continued, all reviews are appreciated and encouraged


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